2018 Premier League Darts

The 2018 Unibet Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the fourteenth edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 1 February at the 3Arena in Dublin and ended with the Play-offs at The O2 Arena in London on Thursday 17 May. This was the first year that the tournament is sponsored by Unibet.

2018 Unibet Premier League Darts
Winner
Michael van Gerwen
Runner-up
Michael Smith
Score
11–4
Dates
1 February–17 May 2018
Edition
14th
Number of players
10
Venues
15 (1 cancelled)
Premier League Darts
< 2017 | 2018 | 2019 >

Michael van Gerwen won his fourth Premier League title (and his third in a row, after winning in 2016 and 2017[1]) by defeating Michael Smith 11–4 in the final.

This was also the first time that the event has had a round in Germany, when the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin hosted the 4th round on 22 February.

Storm Emma resulted in the Exeter round of the event being postponed on 1 March. This was the first time ever since the Premier League started in 2005 that a whole round in the league phase of Premier League Darts was postponed. The same extreme conditions would also go on to cause severe problems in the staging of that weekends UK Open in Minehead which resulted in the event having to be played entirely behind closed doors. In 2010, the play-offs were postponed for 24 hours after a power cut at Wembley Arena.[2]

Format

The tournament format was identical to that since 2013. During the first nine weeks (Phase 1) each player played the other nine players once. The bottom two players were then eliminated from the competition. In the next six weeks (phase 2) each player played the other seven players once. Phase 2 consisted of four weeks where five matches were played followed by two weeks where four matches were played. At the end of phase 2, the top four players contested the two semi-finals and the final in the play-off week.

Venues

Dublin Cardiff Newcastle Berlin
3Arena
Thursday 1 February
Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
Thursday 8 February
Metro Radio Arena
Thursday 15 February
Mercedes-Benz Arena
Thursday 22 February
Exeter Leeds Nottingham Glasgow
Westpoint Arena
Thursday 1 March
(cancelled)
First Direct Arena
Thursday 8 March
Motorpoint Arena Nottingham
Thursday 15 March
SSE Hydro
Thursday 22 March
Belfast Liverpool Sheffield Rotterdam
SSE Arena Belfast
Thursday 29 March
Echo Arena Liverpool
Thursday 5 April (Judgement Night)
FlyDSA Arena
Thursday 12 April
Rotterdam Ahoy
Wednesday 18 & Thursday 19 April
Manchester Birmingham Aberdeen London
Manchester Arena
Thursday 26 April
Arena Birmingham
Thursday 3 May
BHGE Arena
Thursday 10 May
The O2
Thursday 17 May

Players

The players in this year's tournament were announced following the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship final on 1 January, with the top four of the PDC Order of Merit joined by six Wildcards.[3] This was the first time in the event's history in which Phil Taylor did not take part, following his decision to retire. Unlike in previous years the six wildcards were joint decisions by the PDC and Sky Sports this year. There were no PDC specific wildcards or Sky Sports specific wildcards.[4]

The tournament was noteworthy for its high-number of debuting players. Rob Cross qualified by right due to being in the world's top four at the end of the season, with wildcards going to World Grand Prix champion Daryl Gurney, Champions League winner Mensur Suljović, and world number 12 Gerwyn Price. In fact, only four of the previous year's ten players (van Gerwen, Wright, Anderson and van Barneveld) were included this year.

Player Appearance in
Premier League
Consecutive
Streak
Order of Merit
Rank
Previous best performance Qualification
Michael van Gerwen 6th 6 1 Winner (2013, 2016, 2017) PDC Order of Merit
Peter Wright 5th 5 2 Runner-up (2017) PDC Order of Merit
Rob Cross 1st 1 3 Debut PDC Order of Merit
Gary Anderson 8th 8 5 (4)[lower-alpha 1] Winner (2011, 2015) PDC Order of Merit
Daryl Gurney 1st 1 6 Debut Wildcard
Mensur Suljović 1st 1 7 Debut Wildcard
Simon Whitlock 6th 1 9 Runner-up (2012) Wildcard
Raymond van Barneveld 13th 13 12 Winner (2014) Wildcard
Michael Smith 2nd 1 10 10th (2016) Wildcard
Gerwyn Price 1st 1 13 Debut Wildcard
  1. Phil Taylor, who was ranked 4th in the PDC Order of Merit following the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship, retired following the tournament. Anderson therefore received the 4th automatic spot.

Prize money

The prize fund remained the same as last year, £825,000.[5]

StagePrize Money
Winner£250,000
Runner-up£120,000
Semi-finalists£80,000
5th place£65,000
6th place£55,000
7th place£50,000
8th place£45,000
9th place£30,000
10th place£25,000
League Winner Bonus£25,000
Total£825,000

League stage

[6][7]

  1. Please note these are not calculated properly and are not indicative of actual averages for each night.

Play-offs – 17 May

The O2 Arena, London

Score
[23]
Semi-finals (best of 19 legs)
Michael van Gerwen
103.65
10–6 Rob Cross
96.04
Michael Smith
97.49
10–6 Gary Anderson
95.35
Final (best of 21 legs)
Michael van Gerwen
112.37
11–4 Michael Smith
97.01
Night's Total Average: 100.32
Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 128
Most 180s: Michael van Gerwen 16
Night's 180s: 40

Table and streaks

Table

After the first nine weeks (phase 1), the bottom two in the table are eliminated. In the next six weeks (phase 2) the eight remaining players each play a further seven matches. The top four players then compete in the playoffs.

Two points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw. When players are tied on points, leg difference is used first as a tie-breaker, after that legs won against throw and then tournament average.

# Name Pts Matches Legs Scoring
Pld W D L LF LA +/- LWAT 100+ 140+ 180s A[24] HC C%
1 Michael van Gerwen W2316111410360433819212856103.5617045.37%
2 Michael Smith RU2016925906624371571194195.2116042.45%
3 Gary Anderson1916835958015332051145799.1117042.04%
4 Rob Cross191683587825321921035497.3314444.85%
5 Daryl Gurney161648489881321951326796.7716738.70%
6 Raymond van Barneveld16166468088-8272151314295.0116738.28%
7 Peter Wright14164667494-20272261423196.1713239.78%
8 Simon Whitlock13165387492-18261691054392.7716437.00%
9 Mensur Suljović492074053-1312153871499.0613844.44%
10 Gerwyn Price290273261-2912112531189.6714832.99%

Last updated: 10 May 2018
Source: Match reports from the results section.

Top four will qualify for the Play-offs after Week 14.
NB: LWAT = Legs Won Against Throw. A = Average. C% = Checkout Percentage. HC = High Checkout.

Streaks

Player Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 9 Phase 2, Weeks 10 to 14 Play-offs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11A 11B 12 13 14 SF F
Michael van Gerwen W L W W W W W W W W L L D W W L W W
Michael Smith W W W W L W L W W L L W W L D D W L
Gary Anderson L W L D D D W W L W W W W L L W L
Rob Cross L L W W W W W L W W W L D D L D L
Daryl Gurney D L D L D D W W D W L L W D D D Eliminated
Raymond van Barneveld D W L L W D W L L L L W W D W D
Peter Wright D W L D L L L D D L W W D L W D
Simon Whitlock W W W L L D L D W L L L L W L D
Mensur Suljović L L L W W L L L L Eliminated
Gerwyn Price D L D L L L L L L
Legend: WWinDDrawLLossEliminated

Positions by Week

Player Phase 1, Weeks 1 to 9 Phase 2, Weeks 10 to 14
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11A 11B 12 13 14
Michael van Gerwen 1 5 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Michael Smith 3 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 2 2 2
Gary Anderson 9 6 6 6 7 6 5 4 5 4 3 2 4 4 3
Rob Cross 10 10 9 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 4
Daryl Gurney 6 7 7 9 9 8 7 7 6 5 5 5 5 5 5
Raymond van Barneveld 4 3 5 7 5 5 4 6 7 7 7 6 6 6 6
Peter Wright 7 4 4 4 8 9 9 8 8 8 8 7 8 7 7
Simon Whitlock 2 1 1 3 3 4 6 5 4 6 6 8 7 8 8
Mensur Suljović 8 9 10 8 6 7 8 9 9 Eliminated
Gerwyn Price 5 8 8 10 10 10 10 10 10

References

  1. "Premier League Darts: Michael Van Gerwen beats Peter Wright to win third title". BBC Sport. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  2. "Power Cut For Play-Offs". pdc.tv. Professional Darts Corporation. 23 May 2010. Archived from the original on 26 May 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  3. Allen, Dave. "2018 Unibet Premier League Field Confirmed". PDC. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  4. Hearn, Barry. "@BarryHearn". Twitter. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  5. "2018 Unibet Premier League - Event Information". PDC. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  6. Allen, Dave. "2018 Unibet Premier League Fixtures". PDC. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  7. Allen, Dave. "Unibet Premier League Nights Ten-15 Fixtures". PDC. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  8. "2018 Unibet Premier League Night One". PDC. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  9. "2018 Unibet Premier League Night Two". PDC. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  10. "2018 Unibet Premier League Night Three". PDC. 15 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  11. "2018 Unibet Premier League Night Four". PDC. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  12. "2018 Unibet Premier League Night Five". PDC. 8 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  13. "2018 Unibet Premier League - Nottingham". PDC. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  14. "2018 Unibet Premier League - Glasgow". PDC. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  15. "2018 Unibet Premier League - Belfast". PDC. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  16. "2018 Unibet Premier League Judgement Night". PDC. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  17. "2018 Unibet Premier League Night Ten". PDC. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  18. "2018 Premier League Night 11 - Rotterdam". PDC. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  19. "2018 Premier League Night 12 - Rotterdam". PDC. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  20. "2018 Unibet Premier League Night 13". PDC. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  21. "2018 Unibet Premier League Night 14". PDC. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  22. "2018 Unibet Premier League Night 15". PDC. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  23. "Van Gerwen Claims Fourth Premier League Title". PDC. 17 May 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  24. "2018 Premier League Stats: Tournament Average". Retrieved 1 February 2018.
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